The beginning of a beautiful friendship
by liggytheauthoress
Summary: Jack wasn't the first survivor Kate encountered after the crash. Platonic!Kate/Sayid. Currently a one-shot but I might add to it, because I have way too many feelings about these two.
1. Chapter 1

**So I spent the past week or so working my way through all six seasons of Lost, and by the time I finished, I not only had roughly five billion romantic ships, but several platonic ships as well. Actually, platonic!Kate/Sayid might just be my main lost pairing. Because reasons.**

**Do not own - if I did, the show would have been about Kate and Sayid being beautiful bamfs together and Jack would have died in the opening episode.**

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Kate was one of the people who wasn't lucky enough to black out during the crash.

She was awake for the entire thing: the plane breaking apart, the plummet, the impact. At least, by the time they hit the ground, the adrenaline rush had dulled her senses enough to make being thrown from her seat a little less painful.

She was only vaguely aware of scrambling out of what was left of the plane, only vaguely aware of the chaos and smoke and screaming around her. Right now, she was moving mostly on instinct - the majority of her brain had shut down, which was probably the only thing keeping her from completely losing it.

A flash of green caught her eye as she stumbled across the sand - treeline. Still moving by instinct, she headed towards it, wanting to get away from the wreckage and the other passengers until she could get ahold of herself.

About fifty yards into the jungle, she stopped, leaning against a tree and closing her eyes and fighting back the scream building in her throat. This was _not_ a good time to break down.

The sound of footsteps snapped the world back into focus. Kate looked up to see a dark, curly-haired man stumbling out from deeper in the jungle. He didn't appear to be injured, but he had the same wild, stunned expression that Kate knew was on her own face.

For a few moments, they just stood and stared at each other, breathing heavily. Then the man gave a weak half-smile, one that barely reached his eyes, and said, "Well. I'm glad to see I am not the only one who survived."

Kate had never been a tactile person, and calling her slow to trust would be an understatement, but she was just so relieved to see another human being, one who wasn't hurt or screaming, that lunging forward and wrapping the man in a tight hug was practically reflex.

He hugged back, apparently needing the human contact as much as she did. They stood like that for a while, not so much hugging as clinging to each other. It should have felt odd, uncomfortable, but it didn't. It felt totally normal.

After a couple of minutes, they pulled apart. Kate avoided eye contact, suddenly embarrassed, as she muttered, "Sorry..."

"Don't be," the man said, shaking his head. "It's preferable to having simultaneous nervous breakdowns."

Kate actually smiled a little. Realizing that she hadn't introduced herself before almost tackling the man, she held out her hand and said, "I'm Kate. Kate Austen."

He shook her hand and bowed a little. "Sayid Jarrah." He looked her up and down. "Are you injured at all?"

"No. You?"

"Surprisingly no, despite being thrown from an airplane and deposited halfway down a tree." He glanced in the direction of the beach. "Are there any others?"

"Um, yeah...I'm not sure how many, I was...kind've in a hurry to get away from there." She gave a sheepish shrug. "Guess I don't deal well with plane crashes."

"One can hardly blame you." Sayid gave her a sympathetic look. "However, I'd like to go and see if there's anything I can do to help. Will you accompany me or...?"

"Maybe in a bit. I still...I just need a few more minutes alone." Kate gave a small smile. "And thank you."

She wasn't entirely sure what she was thanking him for, but he seemed to understand, because he smiled back, bowed his head to her again, and walked off towards the beach. His arm brushed her shoulder as he passed her, and Kate felt her racing pulse quiet a little.

A few paces away, Sayid paused, glanced over his shoulder, and said, "I hope we meet again soon, Kate Austen," before disappearing into the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I wrote more x) This is probably going to be a completely open-ended project, because I have no idea how much more I'll end up writing or when.**

**Don't own.**

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When night fell, Kate kept finding herself wandering around dazedly. It helped to keep moving - she'd never been good at sitting still in a crisis. She checked in with Jack once or twice, partially because he seemed to have established himself as the unofficial leader, and partially because she needed to know how Edward was doing. If he woke up, if he talked...Things could get awkward. Although Kate supposed, in view of everyone's current situation, the revelation that she had a criminal record would be among the least of the group's worries.

She hoped so, anyway.

Eventually Kate ended up at the signal fire. She couldn't help smiling a little when she saw Sayid stretched out in front of it, staring into the flames, and she sat down beside him without even thinking about it. "Hey."

He glanced up and met her gaze. "Good evening, Ms. Austen."

She rolled her eyes. "We're stranded on a desert island together. I think it's safe to assume everyone's on a first name basis with each other."

Sayid smiled a little. "Kate, then." He moved over to make room for her on the blanket he was sitting on. "And how are you this evening, Kate?"

"Well, apart from having just been in a plane crash, good." Kate sighed and curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on them. "Why hasn't anyone come for us yet?"

It was Sayid's turn to sigh. "I don't know. But it's only been half a day. I think we should wait another twelve hours or so before we start worrying."

"Comforting thought," Kate remarked wryly, nudging his arm with her elbow. She yawned, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was, but she didn't want to go to sleep yet - mostly because she needed to be able to run if Edward woke up and started talking.

So she and Sayid talked. They said very little about their pasts, or their reasons for being in Australia, or what they'd intended on doing when they reached LA, and that was fine with Kate. That still left a broad range of conversation topics, though, and it was a couple of hours before Kate felt herself gradually nodding off. For some reason, it seemed completely natural to lean over and rest her head on Sayid's shoulder, and had she been more awake, she would have asked herself what the hell had gotten into her, but right now, it was just a much-needed source of comfort.

The last thing she was aware of before falling asleep was Sayid wrapping an arm around her shoulders.


End file.
